Northampton forward reveals how a professional attitude to rugby was instilled
in him as a passionate youth

Where did you go to school and was sport an important part of school life?

I went to the Woodlands School in Coventry. Sport, and particularly rugby, were brilliantly taught there. Neil Back and Danny Grewcock are old boys of the school. Back’s picture was up in cabinets there and his England shirts and his caps were on the wall. They were huge idols of ours growing up within in the school.

Why did you excel at sport in your school?

Because of our two rugby masters, Mark Thomas and Paul Harrison. Being in the rugby team was enormous. It was everything that led to what I have achieved today. They were a couple of very dedicated coaches, who stayed with us throughout our time there. PE lessons were a big deal. We all loved getting out there and sport in general was a big thing at my school so cross-country, football, cricket, rugby, were all taken very seriously. But particularly rugby through the winter was a real big deal. I was virtually professional before I was being paid to play because we were training every night. That attitude was developed at school.

I wouldn’t say I excelled, not even at rugby. I was very competitive. I enjoyed all sports and did a bit of cross-country but was not really a standout at it. I played a bit of cricket but got a little bit bored.

Who inspired you as a schoolboy?

My dad was a huge influence on my life as a rugby player. He went to Woodlands School as well and he was a local rugby player so he both coached and mentored me in a huge way. Dean Richards came there to do a training session with us, but my two teachers were also a major inspiration. Everything they did was above and beyond.

Do we deliver sport in schools?

It’s difficult to say really, I’m not particularly close to it. I had a great experience growing up at my school and our sport was all very competitive we were encouraged to get involved with everything. I think there is a lot of red tape around sport in schools today. But maybe it depends where you go to school. The bottom line is that sport in schools should be hugely important.

What is your advice on schoolchildren interested in a life in sport?

My general advice is to just throw yourself in to everything. My advice would be not to just do rugby, if it is rugby you want to go into, do your cross-country, do your football and your cricket because it’s all relevant at that age and you don’t necessarily know what you want but there are transferable skills from all of those sports. Throw yourself in with an open mind and just stay committed. Give yourself a chance to develop in that way.

England’s Tom Wood was speaking at the launch of “Show Your Schools Colours” – a nationwide competition to identify and reward the best supported team in the NatWest Schools Cup. Vote for your school at www.rfu.com/natwestschoolscup